自1988年糖生物学概念提出以来, 国内外科学家在动物、微生物领域取得了大量的研究成果, 但植物糖生物学的研究进展较慢, 目前少见系统的专著或综述。该文围绕植物正常生长时糖信号、逆境时糖信号、糖蛋白及其糖链、重要糖基转移酶及植物凝集素等植物糖生物学的主要问题, 全面阐述植物糖生物学的各个研究分支, 并介绍各领域的最新研究进展。提出了植物糖生物学的概念, 并将其定义为研究植物与糖类互作机制及植物体内糖(糖链与糖分子)结构及生物学功能的科学。

Abundant results on glycobiology were achieved in animal and microbe research fields after the glycobiology theory was proposed in 1988, but little progress was made in plants. Furthermore, few systematic monographs or reviews have focused on plant glycobiology. In this paper, we promote the concept of plant glycobiology, which concentrates on the plant-saccharide interaction mechanism, as well as the structure and biology function of saccharides (sugar chains or glycans). We review our results and those of others, especially the latest progress, on several aspects of plant glycobiology such as sugar signaling under normal development and stress conditions, plant glycoproteins and glycans, and plant glycosyltransferases and lectins.